each other in a jargon which I could not comprehend, and presently two
of them laid hold of me, one by each arm, and in spite of my protests
and such resistance as I made, forced me through the scrub inland. Some
of the tribe followed, others went on ahead, flitting like shadows
among the trees, the journey being performed at a rate which made it
hard for me to keep pace with them.

All day we continued to penetrate the bush toward the interior of the
country, and just before dark we came to a native village, where we
found the tribe assembled at their camp fires. There must have been
several hundred blacks in this camp, and many gathered round to look at
me, although they did not appear to regard me with as much curiosity as
might have been expected, from which I conjectured that white men were
not unknown to them.

After a meal of fish and wild duck, together with a pasty kind of bread
made from the bulrush root, which I found palatable, I was permitted to
lie down in one of their gunyahs upon a bed of freshly-picked leaves,
where, in spite of my anxieties, I soon fell asleep.

Toward morning I awoke to a full conviction of my sorry plight. The
camp was in darkness, save for the glow of the fires and the light of
the stars, which shine with a wonderful brilliancy in these southern
skies. The cry of some night bird came from the bush beyond the camp.
All else was still, but a crouching form at the entrance to the gunyah
warned me I was a prisoner. There was no need, however, to set a guard
upon me, for without a guide I knew I could never reach the coast, so
that even if I succeeded in making my escape from the savages, I must
perish miserably in the bush.